Complete and utter fluff for 'Equilibrium', set between that
story and the sequel, 'Provenance'. I thoroughly enjoyed writing
it and I hope you enjoy reading it.

Sleep Walking

Optimus had naively thought that he'd get more recharge after
Tempest was born and was no longer kicking him in the rib struts
every few minutes. It had taken less than a week to confirm that he
had been sorely mistaken. From the end of the wide berth he and
Ironhide had come to share, the sparkling squirmed on his own
miniature berth chirping a long, plaintive sound over and over again.

Ironhide groaned and rolled onto his side into his partner's
chassis, bringing an arm up over his head in a vague attempt to block
out the noise. He could have turned off his audio receivers but
wouldn't dare – not over Tempest, or any sparkling for that
matter. Still, at this hour it was getting tempting. "He can't
be hungry," he groused, optics remaining dark.

"I put him down with a full tank," Optimus confirmed, bringing up
a hand to rub his optics. At the sound of his Sire's voice
Tempest's pitch rose, demanding attention. The mech sighed and
picked Ironhide's arm off his chassis, sliding back and off the
berth. Looking down at Tempest, he placed his hands on his hips.
"Alright little one, you have my undivided attention. What is it
you want?"

Tempest wailed louder, reaching up his hands and was picked up
obligingly. Held against the Prime's spark he quieted a little
though continued to whine, fidgeting restlessly. From the berth
Ironhide chuckled, sensing that the nightly ritual wasn't going to
stop anytime soon. "Walkies, Optimus."

Optimus clicked an admonishment back, running a thumb across
Tempest's stomach and smiling when the broad digit was grasped by
both small hands. "We can't keep doing this, Tempest. I can't
spend half the day recharging just because I've been up all night
like you can."

Tempest chattered a laugh, earning a snort from Ironhide. "Like
Pest hasn't got you completely wrapped round his servos. If his
first words were 'wanna fly' you'd be requisitioning a plane
from NEST inside ten minutes."

Truthfully, Optimus knew that full well and didn't mind at all.
Adjusting the wide-awake sparkling against his chassis, he made
towards the door. "Come now, Tempest. Let's leave crotchety old
mechs to their recharge."

Ironhide's 'hey!' was just heard as they stepped out into the
corridor.

**** Set between Chapters 6 and 7, when Starscream has just been
placed in containment at the Base after saying that he's defecting
to the Autobots****

Optimus hadn't even gone to sit down upon entering the briefing
room, electing to stand behind his usual chair gripping the backrest
to look upon everyone else who was seated. His backstrut felt like
it had been mangled and the sparkling was still seeing fit to kick it
at random intervals. Sitting seemed to encourage the behaviour,
caused by being more cramped in that position Optimus guessed, so
he'd been avoiding doing so.

"How is our apparent defector this morning?" he asked, looking
towards Ratchet whom he was fully aware had been scrutinizing him
since he came into the room. The medic was always looking at him as
if he were a pet project now, which he supposed was half true, much
to his chagrin.

"Starscream's made no attempts to try to rearm his weapons,
and after I drank some of it myself he's started to take energon
in," Ratchet replied with a glance about the table. Prowl nodded
his approval and Ironhide continued to look unimpressed. It was
going to take a long time for him to be convinced that Starscream was
here for anything but an attack.

"That's good to hear," Optimus admitted, optics shuttering
briefly as he pressed a hand to his back and vaguely wondering if it
was warped on the inside yet from the abuse. The sparkling twisted
itself bodily, pressing against his spark casing as a brace to turn
its body about with a sound that made everyone wince. As walking was
the only thing that seemed to keep the little mech still, he resigned
himself to starting a slow pace around the table. He'd done this
in every meeting for the last two weeks, and suspected there'd be a
trench worn down by the time the sparkling was born. "Prowl," he
prompted firmly, grateful that no one was taking any notice of his
walking.

"I stopped in on him for a talk after Ratchet left," Prowl
said, folding his hands in his lap. Peripherally he was aware of
Ironhide sneaking glances to the obviously uncomfortable mech, but
kept his optics on the data pads between his hands. When and how the
weapon's specialist opened up about his hidden feelings for Optimus
was his own business. "He confirmed my suspicion that the
Decepticons change their patrol habits every few days, which is why
we've had so much trouble coming across lone mechs on their
borders. Without much coercion on my part, he's disclosed in
detail who's going to be at a specific checkpoint later today."

"We should make use of the opportunity to destroy it if it's
one of the more renegade mechs, rather than waiting for a new attack
on the human populous," Ratchet suggested as Optimus passed behind
his chair.

"Who's annoying you most this week?" Ironhide grunted with
an underlying chuckle, splaying his fingers on the table as he pushed
himself to his feet.

"Skids and Mudflap," came the immediate reply. "Might as
well send Hot Rod and his attitude too." Optimus paused when he
came about the head of the table to see Ironhide on his feet.
"What're you doing?"

Ironhide made a show of stretching his arms, plates shifting into
a grin. "Felt like getting some air. How about you two? Fancy a
walkin' meeting?"

Completely undeterred, the dark mech came about the table and
brushed a hand across his shoulder. "Come on, Prime. I just don't
see a lot of sense in sitting in the briefing room when you ain't
sitting, and there's no reason why we can't walk and talk."

"It does seem to settle the little one," Prowl supplied with a
thinly disguised smile, gathering the pads into a stack as he stood.

"And I'd rather not need to completely replace your internal
plates once the mechling's out," Ratchet added as he tucked his
chair back in, following Ironhide to the door.

Optimus watched with a vague sense of bewilderment and no small
degree of gratitude as the three mechs filed past him out the door,
leaving him to follow in order to partake in the meeting. Pinching
his optics, he looked down to his fractionally distended chassis with
a smile. "Do you have any idea of the disruptions you cause?"

In answer the sparkling delivered a hard kick, settling again when
Optimus finally stepped out into the corridor and moved to catch up
with the walking mechs. With his chassis now rocking gently as he
moved, he was almost sure he could sense the mechling's
contentment.

****

The corridors of the Base were lit only with emergency lighting at
this hour, leaving any humans who chose to wander using torches or
finding an Autobot's optics to navigate by. NEST had given them
four warehouses on an old military airfield for their use, and had
permitted them to build to connect the areas into a more cohesive
living space. Traversing the area devoted to individual living
quarters first, Optimus headed towards the rec room as a destination
with the dim hope that just a short jaunt was all Tempest wanted
tonight.

When the sparkling saw the communal notice board pinned up just down
the corridor from the mess hall he started to squirm anew, chirping
brightly and clapping a hand against his Sire's chassis. Optimus
rumbled a soft laugh, brushing his fingers across Tempest's helm.
"No, Tempest, Sam and Mikaela won't be in there at this hour.
You'll have to wait until tomorrow afternoon to see them, when
Bumblebee brings them back from their music festival."

Tempest uttered a low series of disappointed clicks, sensing that he
wasn't going to be seeing the humans right now from his Sire's
tone. Optimus left the light off as he stepped into the kitchen,
flinching at the sparkling's alarmed chirp when his foot sent an
empty energon cube skittering across the floor and under the
Cybertronian-sized tables.

"That's why we put things away," Optimus told the sparkling
with a sigh, moving back to turn on the light. Tempest was huddled
into his chassis, vents cycling hard as his optics flickered about
the room. Optimus gave him a brief squeeze. "It's alright,
little one, there's nothing here, see? Just an errant cube. Here,
I'll show you."

Finding the cube to have made it past four rows of tables, Optimus
sat Tempest on a bench and reached under to retrieve it. Holding it
out for the sparkling to see, he smiled when the little mech took it
clumsily and peered inside, optics filled with great scepticism.
Looking up again, he chirped quizzically at his Sire before simply
putting the cube over his head. In the dark of the energon mug, he
giggled.

Still kneeling, Optimus feigned a sigh at the display. "I'll
have to tell Sam and Mikaela that you've found something more fun
to play with in here than them. They'll be most disappointed."

**** Set in the middle of Chapter 5, after Optimus and Sam come
off the flyover and before Tempest starts kicking ****

Two days after Sam had taken a thirty foot dive inside Optimus's
cab in the rain, the teen was still lingering at the Base to see for
himself that the mech was alright. Ratchet and Mikaela had assured
him as much, but after having seen how long Optimus had remained
offline and the roadside repairs Starscream had needed to perform to
bring him around, he was only going to be happy once he saw him for
himself.

Sitting in the human-sized corner of the kitchen within the
Autobot's own mess hall area, Sam snagged another cookie from the
plate in the middle of table despite Mikaela's droll expression.
He held it up in protest. "What? It's only my fourth, and it's
not like the NEST guys sit around here eating the cookies."

"So you're doing them a favour by making sure they're all
gone before they go stale?" Mikaela asked, folding her arms and
sitting back in the chair.

"Absolutely," he replied firmly, grinning that disarming grin
that he knew could let him get away with anything. As predicted,
Mikaela rolled her eyes with a smile, allowing him to savour his
sweet victory.

Thunderous footsteps sat him up before Optimus appeared in the
doorway, seeming far healthier than when Sam had last seen him. "Hey
big guy! How're you feeling?"

Optimus paused, considering whether he should give the honest
answer that if anyone else asked about his wellbeing and or
Starscream's presence this morning he'd shoot them without
remorse. Moving towards his small stack of doctored energon cubes,
he took one and popped the seal, answering as he lent against the
countertop. "I'm well, Sam. Ratchet was quite satisfied when I
left him. What about you? Did you sustain any injuries from the
fall?"

Sam waved the question off with a smirk. "Nah, you're a good
bot to get thrown around in. Soft seats and strong seatbelts. And
it takes a lot more than that to leave a bruise on me."

"Oh yeah?" Mikaela retorted, taking a cookie for herself
whilst Optimus retracted his faceplate and took a sip of energon.
"What about a few weeks ago when Bumblebee pulled that emergency
stop because he didn't want to run over that squirrel? Face it,
Sam: you bruise like a peach."

"I meant no slight to your durability, Sam," Optimus added
with an apologetic note. "But your bodies are more fragile than
ours, and from that fall I didn't land in-" He cut himself off
abruptly with closed optics, setting the cube down on the counter and
pinching the space above his nose.

Mikaela and Sam exchanged a look. "Are you okay?" she asked,
noticing thanks to Ratchet's tutorials on Cybertronian biology that
that the parts in his chassis were churning.

Optimus nodded, optics remaining closed as he attempted to will
away the cold wave of nausea bubbling up from his tanks. He'd had
half a cube of energon and somehow it had been enough to trigger his
over-sensitive tanks to back up. "It'll pass," he finally
replied, though left his faceplate open just in case. It was a
prudent precaution as within seconds the sickly sensation abruptly
quadrupled in intensity and he found himself purging what little he'd
swallowed into the sink.

"I'll get Ratchet," Mikaela said as she started towards the
door, leaving Sam watching helplessly as he cleared the last of the
rejected energon from his tanks.

When the fit seemed to have passed, Sam moved to stand alongside
Optimus and looked up at the grimacing mech with a sympathetically
matching expression. "Guess puking isn't much fun whatever your
species."

"Most definitely," Optimus agreed, his hands still pressed
against the sides of the sink as he waited for his systems to stop
churning. He reached for the oversized faucet to drain the energon
away but recalled Ratchet's instruction to leave it so that the
medic could check it, settling to turn and sit back against the
counter instead. Rubbing his optics, he heard Sam move to stand
beside his hip, elevated heartbeat suggesting his concern. "It's
alright, Sam. Sparkbearing is frustratingly paradoxical in that it
takes a lot of energon to do but also over-sensitises my systems to
it."

"So even though you really need it, the little bot isn't
letting you keep it down?" Sam asked, nodding at the sound of
confirmation that rumbled from the slumped mech. "Sounds like what
happens to human women whilst they're pregnant. They get morning
sickness."

Optimus breathed a laugh, resting his head back against the metal
counter with a raised brow. "Is it morning or –mourning-
sickness that the symptom is labelled? Certainly I'm mourning my
ability to intake enough energon to run my own systems, let alone
build a sparkling protoform."

Sam grinned and scrubbed a hand through his hair, relaxing a
little. It was reassuring when Optimus was sat on the floor looking
faintly pathetic after puking into the sink that he could make light
of it. He briefly considered using the opportunity whilst it was
just the two of them to ask about Starscream, and to perhaps even
confirm his suspicion that the reason the Seeker had helped was
because he was the other sparkling's creator, but cut off the
thought when he heard Mikaela arrive with Ratchet.

The medic ran a quick scan of the contents of the sink before
squatting in front of Optimus, optics bright. "Not even an iota of
the makeup absorbed this time, despite my modifications. I think the
sparkling's growing more resistant to something in our energon
rather than less."

"Like a contaminant?" Mikaela asked from beside Sam, lacing
her fingers between his.

Ratchet glanced to her with a reassuring smile, pleased that she'd
suspected it. "No, more likely a sensitivity to the balance of
particles in the batch. I've been experimenting to try to find an
acceptable mix, as the sparkling has come to take complete precedence
on deciding what quality energon will be allowed into its Sire's
systems."

"And it has quite refined tastes," Optimus commented dryly,
watching as the medic reached for his chassis and parted the plates
obligingly for the sensor to reach inside.

"I'm going to make an analysis of what the sparkling has in
its own lines and try to match the chemical consistency this time,"
Ratchet informed, scrutinizing the woven bundle of cables that had
formed around the small body deep inside the mech's chassis.
Despite the slenderness of the probe, his fingers lacked the
dexterity to get it between the lines without rupturing one.
"Mikaela, do you think you could assist me in getting this to the
sparkling through this encasement?"

"I'll do my best," she replied, already slipping off and
pocketing her watch as Ratchet produced her protective welding gloves
from a compartment in his shoulder. Stepping into his hand, she put
one the gloves and took hold of the fist-wide tube he extended to
her. Perching on the edge of his outstretched fingers just inside
Optimus's chassis, she peered at the bundle of cables for a gap.
"Is it going to hurt if I try to push these about a bit?"

"I'll be still," Optimus assured, idly wondering when he got
used to a human female poking around in his chassis. Over the last
few weeks her small size and engineering skilled had become an asset
to Ratchet, and one frequently being used and trained on him.

"He shouldn't be able to feel it, and the lines won't return
to shape right away. If you make yourself a gap to reach through, it
won't close around you whilst you put this into one of the
sparkling's lines," Ratchet instructed softly, ignoring the
sensation of her hand tightening thoughtfully around the line
extending from his wrist.

"Okay, if you're sure," she replied with a note of concerned
uncertainty, reaching a tentative hand to the silver cables and
pressing between them. They slid apart, a film of lubricant peeling
open between them as she pressed and pulled the humming tubes wider.
Wordlessly Ratchet turned on the headlight behind her, casting a
strong white light into the space.

Mikaela gasped, momentarily forgetting what she was even doing.
Curled upon itself and slick with lubricants to prevent it from
scratching its body on the metal around it, the sparkling shimmered
before her. Where its protoform was expanding, it was being
constructed in layers formed from bare materials harvested from its
Sire's body. The naked alien metal shone as a liquid silver,
shifting as it was shaped and grown.

"Can you see an energon line?" Ratchet asked, frowning at the
human's stillness.

"What? Oh, yeah. Yeah, there's a good one right here,"
Mikaela replied, shaking her head a little to break off her stare.

"Good. Just touch the end of the probe to the line and I'll
examine its contents and reseal the breach. Gently now."

Taking her lower lip between her teeth, Mikaela knelt and put her
arm through the gap in the cables so that her covered elbow rested on
the warm metal. Feeding the probe through her guiding hand with the
other, she manoeuvred it under the sparkling's thin arm to a
purplish cable that ran down its backstrut.

As the probe made contact and clicked with the connection, the
sparkling shifted. To her astonishment, its head turned to face her
and its optics took on a faint milky white glow. Completely
colourless but definitely watching her.

Mikaela froze. "Uh, Ratchet, it's looking at me."

The medic paused in his analysis of the energon passing over the
end of the probe. "Pardon?"

She blinked, muscles locked in shock. "It turned its head and
its looking right at me."

Optimus exchanged a look with Ratchet, mindful to remain still.
Even the smallest movement could destabilise Mikaela's position
without him knowing until it was too late. "Are it's optics on?"

"Yeah, that's how I know it's looking at me. They're
white, though." Mikaela watched as the dim optics wavered on her
before finally dimming, and the sparkling shifted again as the probe
dislodged. Creeping back out onto Ratchet's palm, she held onto
his thumb as he moved to replace her on the ground. "Was it really
looking at me?"

"Only out of instinct," Ratchet replied, though his face
plates were still arranged with surprise. "It won't remember
though. Its processor isn't developed enough to retain memory."
Looking back to Optimus, he nodded to his open chassis. "You can
close now. It'll only take a moment to process the scan."

Whilst Ratchet's optics flickered, Sam nudged Mikaela and
grinned. "Guess we'll know if it remembers you when you hold out
a stick to prod it with and it runs."

"It would likely be wary of such a motion anyway," Optimus
said, frowning. "And no one is going to be prodding my sparkling."

"I beg to differ," Ratchet replied flatly. "As the chief
medic I can prod, poke and weld whomever I want if I feel it's in
their best interest." Something in his helm chirped and his optics
returned to normal, ending the almost-threatening tirade. "Ah,
yes. I believe I can match this, Prime. Give me an hour and you
shouldn't experience any more purging."

Taking the offered hand as Ratchet stood, Optimus got to his own
feet. "If you could manage that, Ratchet, I'd consider it a
miracle of the highest order."

The medic folded his arms. "No, a miracle would be getting that
sparkling out without any problems. I knew a sparkbearing mech would
be a challenge, but with how you've managing to overclock and
overrun your systems, at this rate you'll be the end of my
processor."

After Ratchet had stalked off from his scolding back to the
Medbay, Optimus gave Mikaela and Sam a reassuring smile. "Don't
worry. He's threatened everyone here a thousand times over that
they'll be the end of his processor."

Mikaela offered Sam a shrug. "It's how he shows he cares."

****

Optimus allowed Tempest to sit with the energon cube on his head
until he stopped giggling with a delight he couldn't comprehend,
plucking it off and smiling down at the sparkling's bright optics.
"See? Not so scary after all. Come on now. It'll do neither of
us any good for you to stay up playing."

Briefly squawking in complaint at being picked up, Tempest watched
his Sire place the cube into the sink before continuing back through
the mess hall towards the rec room, turning off the light as they
left. Hot Rod was sprawled recharging on the oversized sofa, the
remote for the television Wheeljack had built still in his hand.
Tempest mimicked Optimus's finger to his mouth, remaining silent
and still as his Sire turned off the set from where it had fallen
into quiet static before they passed through the door on the other
side.

Back in the corridor, Optimus tapped the sparkling's stomach for
being so good. "See now, Tempest, -other- bots who fall asleep
outside of their quarters or the Medbay do so on the job – in their
office or off the Base, like Bumblebee." Suddenly mindful of the
direction they were wandering in, Optimus turned left at the end of
the corridor towards his office. "Speaking of which, there may be
a few reports I can sneak past Prowl. Just don't tell Ratchet. He
thinks I should be lying still encased in packing foam for the next
month."

Tempest offered a quizzical chirp before falling quiet again, happy
to be on the move again. He batted his hand out as Optimus keyed in
the code to his office, squeaking when the lights came on. The sound
became even more insistent when he spotted his toy bear on the floor
beside the desk.

"So that's where you left him." Kneeling to put the sparkling
on the floor, he held out the large teddy and smiled as it was
grasped from his fingers and hugged with a trill of delight. "Yes,
I'm certain he missed you too. Just stay there a moment, Tempest."

Straightening, he surveyed the orderly array of data pads on his
desk. "Prowl brought you in here today, I see." A chirp brought
his attention back down to the floor, where Tempest was crawling to
get under the desk with his bear. Optimus shook his head a little,
sifting through the pads and setting aside the most urgent ones. "I
don't see why you like my office so much. You haven't got
anything to do here. But then, you've spent quite a lot of time in
here." A quirked smile. "Not necessarily whilst I was working."

****Set at the beginning of Chapter 7, once Starscream has told
Optimus about the attack on the power plant but before the general
briefing***

Bumblebee stood at restful attention in front of Optimus' desk
once he'd handed over his scout report, knowing that it was short
enough to remain for whilst the commander read it. It had been a
last-minute mission to check on the whereabouts of the key
Decepticons, no doubt prompted by Prime's meeting with Starscream
yesterday.

Optimus made a thoughtful sound, shifting a little in the chair.
"This is very thorough, Bumblebee. Well done." He switched the
report into his left hand to press his right to his side, touching
over where the sparkling was fidgeting and scraping its heels. "Did
you encounter any problems not detailed here?"

The small mech shook his head, bringing his optics back up. "No
Sir. I had to temporarily activate my hologram when a highway patrol
car indicated for me to stop. I'd neglected to signal at a
turning."

"Not a significant omission from your report," Optimus
commented with a smile which flickered away upon a sharp clang in his
side. The sparkling had stopped scraping and resumed its favourite
activity. Looking back to Bumblebee, he was already anticipating the
bright-optic expression that had lit up the yellow mech's face.
Sliding his arm back onto the armrest of the chair, he picked up the
report again. "Go ahead."

Bumblebee grinned and came about the desk, touching a hand to
where Optimus's had been against his side only a moment ago.
"Thank you, Prime. You've been very… tolerant with me."

Optimus made a low sound through his vents, scrolling back up the
pad and picking up Prowl's report from yesterday to compare it
with. "And I will remain so if you remain silent about the fact
that I let you." He glanced down to the mech, smiling at the
enraptured expression. "This is a greater novelty to you than the
rest of us, Bumblebee, and you're entitled to your curiosity."

"And it's nice," Bumblebee replied softly, grinning again
when there was a kick against his hand. The metal didn't flex from
the force of it, only vibrated. He tapped his finger over the spot
and was rewarded with another kick, softer than the first. "Sam
was telling me how he had struggled before to comprehend that he had
grown from the size of a human infant, but that thinking of us as
coming from sparklings has outweighed that incredulity."

Bumblebee cocked his head, bringing his audio receiver closer to
the big mech's side. "Can you tell in what way it lays?" he
asked, trying to hear past the powerful systems to those of the
comparatively tiny being inside.

Optimus shifted a little, feeling how the weight in his chassis
moved. "The body is upright, back to you, though I doubt it'll
be that way for long."

"Restless?"

"Always."

Bumblebee made a thoughtful sound, optics flickering as he
thought. After a moment he found the sound file he was looking for,
playing the music quietly through his speakers and directed to the
hidden sparkling.

Optimus looked back down to him quizzically, the reports
momentarily forgotten. "What is that?"

"Mozart," the mech replied with something of a sheepish smile.
"I read that his music reportedly improves intelligence in unborn
infants as well as acting to soothe. I… do not know how much
awareness the sparkling may have, but I thought it may be worth a
try."

"There's definitely some awareness of the outside world,"
Optimus confirmed with a thin smile. "If I pass Jazz's room
whilst he's playing his 'techno' music, he kicks as if he's
trying to reshape my ignition."

"Yes, and it seems to have surprised everyone. It is not always
wise to take the tactician's word as gospel."

Bumblebee smiled despite the credits he'd lost from that bet,
calculating that Sam had come off quite wealthy given how everyone
else had followed Prowl's lead in the pool. "Evidently."
A tinny rattle from inside and he tapped back, pleased at the
silence it brought about as if the sparkling were somehow
contemplating his response. "I think I'm glad it's a mech. I
wouldn't know what to do with a femme." His optics narrowed,
bright with mirth. "But then, I won't know what to do with a
sparkling in general."

"How do you think I feel?" Optimus murmured beneath his vents,
setting the pads down for the time being. "For most of us, you
yourself were the closest any of us had come to living with a
youngling, and you were in your third frame when you joined my unit."

"That didn't stop Ironhide from calling me a mechling on the
firing range," Bumblebee replied dryly, sitting back a little now
that the sparkling had stopped moving.

"I suspect you'll be losing all the nicknames associated with
youth." Optimus sat forward experimentally, braced for the
admonishing kick but finding it absent. "I think the music
worked."

Optimus's mouth quirked in a kind of shrug. "I don't know.
Perhaps. I may actually catch up on things today if he's this
still."

Deciding that he'd imposed enough on the commander's patience,
Bumblebee straightened on his feet. "I hope so, Prime. I'm glad
the music helped, and thank you again."

"You're most welcome, Bumblebee."

Once the scout had left with the music still playing, Optimus
spent a moment searching for and downloading a range of classical
music from the Internet. With a cautious disbelief that the
sparkling was keeping still he made a start on the requisitions
reports, Pachelbel's Cannon in D major filling the room.

****

With a short stack of pads to peruse and compose responses to in one
hand, Optimus knelt to reach under his desk for Tempest. The
sparkling was sat with the stuffed bear in his lap, manipulating its
limbs as he chattered to it. Unperturbed by the large hand that
scooped him out and up, he squeezed the bear's arms as he was set
back inside the crook of his Sire's arm against his chassis.

Feeling that the sparkling's systems were finally beginning to slow
towards recharge, Optimus made a quick visual sweep to make sure
things were in order before heading towards the door. "Come now,
Tempest. I think you might be ready to settle now."

A soft chirp and Tempest moved to look up into the mech's optics,
brows furrowed. He made a vague gesture with one hand, pointing down
the corridor towards a door that would take them outside the Base.
Considering it for a moment, Optimus relented under the sparkling's
stare. "Alright, but just for a few minutes. Then you're going
back to berth."

Given his fragile frame and the fact that Megatron was still intent
on taking Tempest to raise as a Decepticon, the sparkling had only
seen the outside world a handful of times and always from either
Optimus's or Ironhide's arms. The enormity of the world – the
endless expanse of sky and land, its sounds and the freshness of the
air were wondrous to the little mech who spent all his time within
the same gray walls. It was a treat to go out, even briefly.

Knowing full well that the sentries would have alerted them if there
was a Decepticon presence in the vicinity, Optimus still took a
moment to run a scan of the area before sliding open the door and
stepping outside. This was the first time Tempest had seen the night
sky, and he was pleased to find that the sparkling met it without
trepidation. The small mech sat up and looked about with an
inquisitive whine and appreciative chirps, finally turning his optics
up to the sky. A small hand reached up, attempting to bat at the
points of light arranged above them.

"You can't quite reach them," Optimus said with a smile,
watching as Tempest continued undeterred, optics wide. "We came
from there, you know. From a very old planet orbiting a star that
may not exist anymore."

The sound of wild dogs barking companionably abruptly silenced the
sparkling. Tempest sat up, head tipped as he listened to the sounds
with a smile. Optimus ran a finger down his helm, making the
enraptured mech jump with a chirp. He offered an apologetic smile.
"I'm sorry that I cannot show you to the world, Tempest, and it
to you. Not yet anyway."

**** Set at the end of Chapter 9, after Optimus and Ironhide have
interfaced for the first time and before the battle at the power
station ****

Neither of them were scheduled for sentry duty and both of them
should have been recharging, but Optimus suspected that Prowl was out
here for the same reasons he was. Moving across the yard to where
the tactician stood looking up at the stars, he quietly came to stand
alongside him and followed his gaze upwards.

"Enjoying the peace before the fight?" Optimus asked, though
it was also a statement. This wasn't the first time they'd come
across each other restless and contemplative on the eve of battle,
and there was something comforting in the familiarity.

Prowl made a soft sound of agreement, his gaze unmoving. "And
the little one is due to arrive in five days." An arched, metallic
brow as he gave his commander a sidelong look. "You sure know when
to pick your battles."

Optimus shunted a short, dry laugh through his vents, clarifying,
"I'd have preferred it if Megatron would wait a few weeks, too.
But it is as it is. We can only do our best."

"I'm surprised Ironhide's letting you go at all," Prowl
replied softly, cautious to encroach on that new development in
Prime's personal life.

A thin smile. "He respects my wishes, though he may not agree
with them."

"The sign of a good partner."

Silence fell between them and the constellations , interrupted
briefly by a quiet series of clicks as the cramped sparkling shifted
about. They paid the sound no mind, finding that it had become
normal at some point over the last month.

Thinking of the dark mech whom would likely be covertly making his
way to his quarters later tonight, Optimus looked to Prowl again.
"How long had you known?"

Though the question came from nowhere the tactician knew exactly
what was meant, the memory of meeting Prime at his office door with
Ironhide recharging by the desk very recent. "Not long," he
replied after a moment. "I found out by mistake, and his denial
wasn't convincing or attempted for long." A glance to the mech
watching him. "How long had you felt that way?"

Optimus's mouth quirked in a grimace, the question touching on
something he hadn't quite figured out himself. "I don't know.
I've only ever seen him as a comrade and close friend, and hadn't
expected things to change as they have." Hesitating, he found his
gaze drifting to the smudged surface of the moon, partially obscured
tonight by thick clouds. "I fear… I'm not sure if this is
because of the sparkling, or if I genuinely return his feelings."
It was a difficult admission to make, but also a relief to release
it.

"You seem a good match for each other," Prowl replied, his
gaze turning to where the sun had set only a few hours ago. The sky
there had turned from purple to black. "I suppose you'll just
have to give it time and see what happens after the mechling is
born."

"You're right, of course," Optimus conceded with a thin
smile, sighing as the wind began to pick up and seek a path between
his plates.

On the horizon, Prowl noted flashes of light pricking between the
sky and the land. "Storm's coming," he murmured, not missing
the irony of coming events.

Unseen, Optimus pressed a hand to his grill to where the sparkling
was shifting again, turning to curl its back to his side. The future
seemed so uncertain for the first new mech to be born amongst them in
millennia: filled with potential and unavoidable danger. He
struggled to imagine what a mixture of his attitudes and Megatron's
would create in the sparkling's processor, wondered at the outcome
of such a dichotomy in parental temperaments. The only thing any of
them knew for certain was that it would be powerful, and that his
existence alone would bring about a tumultuous change in the
Cybertronian species as he embodied a unification of their warring
factions. A tempest of change and possibility.

To Prowl's comment Optimus made a soft sound of agreement, also
looking to the lightning in the distance. "We'll weather it. We
always do."

****

Finally, Tempest slumped back against his chassis with a soft sigh
through his vents, hugging the toy bear close to his chest. Optimus
took his own gaze down from the stars and smiled at seeing his
sparkling finally on the verge of recharge. Ghosting back through
the Base, he bypassed Hot Rod still recharging in the rec room and
was soon back in his quarters. Leaving the pads he'd taken at the
end of his desk, he moved into the adjoining berth room.

Tempest didn't stir as he was laid back on the small berth, rolling
when the large hands left him to spoon his body about the soft toy
with a sleepy squeak. Optimus watched him for a moment, tapping a
finger to the mobile Sam and Mikaela had made to make it spin before
moving to the larger berth where Ironhide still lay. The broad mech
hadn't moved since he'd left, but his optics flickered online
when he eased himself back onto the padded surface. As much as he'd
deny it, his chassis still ached from the forced birth a week ago.

"Get Pest to sleep in the end?"

Optimus nodded with a smile to the muzzy mech, settling on his back
with a sigh. "Yes. Finding his toy and taking a walk through the
Base finally settled him."

"You know you're only encouraging him. He'll be having you
taking him for walks in the middle of night for the next decade at
this rate," Ironhide replied, shifting to rest a hand on Optimus's
chassis, thumbing the wide grill thoughtfully.

Vents cycling down towards recharge, Optimus lay his own hand over
the one on his chest. Between the quiet murmurs of the three engines
in the room, he found a warm kind of peace. "And I'll never mind
it."

Optimus breathed a laugh, wondering which occasion he should remind
the older mech of when he'd demonstrated exactly the same thing as
he drifted towards recharge himself. When Ironhide had sat on the
floor in the rec room and played blocks with Tempest for two hours
whilst he'd spoken to the NEST officials; when he'd threatened
Jazz into playing Bach or Pachelbel instead of techno if the mech
simply had to play –something- whilst Tempest was in the room; or
when the old mech had taken Tempest outside when he thought Optimus
was recharging.

Just to show him the sunrise.

****~****

There's nothing like sparkling schmaltz sometimes, is there? ^_^

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